A big break in the state of New Jersey's case against Birdsall Services Group, the Eatontown-based engineering consultant, came when the ex-wife of the company's former marketing director wore a wire during a discussion about money. According to state police, Philip Angarone told his ex that his compensation seemed larger than it was because part of it had to be used for campaign donations to state elected officials.
Angarone and one other marketing-department employee have pleaded guilty to breaking state ethics and campaign-donation laws in exchange for comparatively light sentences. The state attorney general, Jeffrey Chiesa, won indictments against the company itself and seven other key Birdsall executives, including its former chief executive and largest shareholder, Howard C. Birdsall.